Public Statements

Capps Calls on House Leadership to Bring Legislation to Ban High Capacity Ammunition Magazines to a Vote

Statement

Today, Congresswoman Lois Capps (CA-23) joined over one hundred of her colleagues in calling on the House of Representatives leadership to bring the Large Capacity Ammunition Feeding Device Act (H.R. 308) to the House floor for a vote. Capps has long co-sponsored the legislation, which would ban the transfer, possession, or import of high capacity magazines capable of holding ten or more rounds. Such restrictions were in place as part of the assault weapons ban that lapsed in 2004.

In the wake of the horrific shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, we must take action to address this type of violence.

One common-sense step we can take to combat mass gun violence would be to ban the high power ammunition clips that allow a gunman to fire dozens of rounds in less than a minute. This is a reasonable step that would help minimize the deadliness of gun violence. Americans have the constitutional right to own guns, but as a country we have the responsibility to place sensible rules on to reduce the risk of this kind of horrific event.

As we look ahead to the next Congress, I am hopeful we will be taking a comprehensive look at all the factors -- including how we deal with mental illness - that lead to extreme gun violence in the United States and take meaningful steps to address this significant problem facing our society," said Congresswoman Capps.